Thursday, December 20, 2007

#16 - Ted Lyons

His number is retired by the White Sox, so this is another automatic inclusion. Let's see why though. He pitched a total of 21 years, all for the White Sox. He started in 1923 and retired in 1942. Then he came out of retirement sortly in 1946, the same year he took over as manager of the Sox.

He won 260 games in his career on a bunch of lousy White Sox teams. He was an All-Star in 1939 and in the running for MVP a few times. He was such a draw, that late in his career, he only pitched on Sundays.

Other players who shared #16 include Al Smith, Brian Downing, Ken Berry and Julio Cruz. If you thought Mark Buehrle made quick work on the mound, Ted once threw a no-hitter in 1926 that took only 67 minutes.